Cavaliers guard James Harden totaled 15 combined rebounds and assists in Game 1. Since then, his totals have been 9, 9 and 11, the latter of which was with zero boards. The Pistons ranked No. 1 in fewest assists allowed to opposing point guards, so expect The Beard’s assist numbers to dip. His rebounding totals have dipped each of the four games.

Jaden McDaniels has five-plus boards in three of the four games so far this series, and eight-plus rebounds in four of the seven games last series. He’s leaning into his defense and rebounding while still scoring in the teens. With teammates Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert guarding posts with perimeter shooting, McDaniels is just as likely to be down low cleaning the glass as anyone.

No team allows more 3’s made to opposing power forwards than the Thunder. LeBron James hit two of them in Game 3 and three of them in Game 1. He’s only 32.6% on 3’s in the postseason, but all eyes will be on King James to produce. The Lakers were 3-0 when he hit two-plus 3’s in Round 1, and OKC will be happy to let him shoot from out there.

Lu Dort has started every playoff game with Jalen Williams out, and he’s mostly asked to stay out of the way. Still, he’s scored between 8-10 points in four out of seven, and the Lakers’ small forward defense allows for opportunities. So far, 35 of his 41 shots have been behind the arc, so we’ll side with Over 1.5 3’s instead of the 6.5-point prop.

OKC PF Chet Holmgren went 0-for-4 on 3-pointers in Game 3, but also 9-of-10 from inside the arc. The Lakers can’t let Chet run past them anymore, so expect more sagging here. That’s OK, as Holmgren hit two-plus 3’s in five of the previous six Thunder playoff games.

Cavs PF Evan Mobley has had two solid games and one dud for the Cavs so far. He has yet to come close to scoring his 18.2 ppg season average, but he has grabbed 8-9 rebounds in two of the games and 4-5 assists in all three. In Games 1 and 3 he totaled 12 and 14 R/A and on the year is at 12.6. Ten rebounds is very doable, 3-4 assists is too.

Miles McBride got a Game 3 start with OG Anunoby out, and it didn’t go great. In 21 minutes, he registered a PRA of 5. In Game 2, he played 21 minutes off the bench and had a PRA total of 6. Landry Shamet replaced him in G3, got more minutes and was far more productive. It’s possible Shamet gets the bulk of action again, it’s even possible (as of this writing) that day-to-day Anunoby plays. McBride’s season PRA average was a solid 15, but it’s not going well at the moment and stars take over in the playoffs.

Rudy Gobert isn’t out there to score for the Timberwolves. In three games vs. Victor Wembanyama this season, Gobert has tallied 2, 7 and 5 points. He’s grabbed 10 rebounds in each playoff game. The Wolves have had injury issues, but Gobert isn’t the one who’s stepping up offensively.

The Pistons survived their first round as a No. 1 seed. The team took a sigh of relief and outscored the Cavs 37-21 in the opening quarter of Game 1 of the second round. They made Jarrett Allen a non-factor and Cade Cunningham shot just 6-of-19; he’ll do better. Cleveland covered in just 37.8% of road games – only the Wizards were worse. This is also only the fourth time since March 1 the Cavs will be underdogs in a game. The previous three, they lost by 10, 22 and 14. The 10-pointer was Game 1.

De’Aaron Fox shot 5-of-14 in Game 1 and was blanked in the first half of the Spurs’ two-point loss to the Timberwolves. Victor Wembanyama also didn’t play well, so I think both step up. But Fox especially, as you know Minnesota is going to focus more on Wemby. He has a history of doing very well in games after duds.

Game 1 totaled 206 points (a 104-102 Wolves win). But the Spurs are averaging 123.8 ppg since Jan. 31. The Wolves defense has stepped up in the playoffs, allowing 105 ppg in the last six. That said, De'Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama had major issues, including 0-for-12 on 3’s. Wemby had 12 blocks in Game 1; that’s unlikely to happen again, offering a boost to Minnesota. And Anthony Edwards should get more minutes after a successful return in Game 1.

In the four games Josh Hart has faced the 76ers this season, the Knicks shooting guard has rebound/assist totals of 16, 20, 16 and 14, the latter of which was in 10 fewer minutes than usual in the Game 1 blowout win. The Sixers have bigger issues to figure out defensively, especially now with Joel Embiid sitting.

While everyone concentrates on Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox has taken advantage. The five games vs. the Blazers, Fox scored no less than 17 points and scored 28 and 21 in the final two, shooting 50% on the series. In three games vs. the Timberwolves, Fox scored 25 points in two of them. The last six meetings with Mike Conley, Fox is averaging 28.3 ppg.

The Pistons were down 3-1 in this series before Cade Cunningham decided to put the team on his back. He’s scored 45 and 32 points the last two games, both Detroit wins. Orlando was allowing the most points in the NBA to the PG position before the series began and nothing’s changed.

I’m not entirely convinced that Boston wins this one outright. Philly has a three-headed monster going on right now: Tyrese Maxey had 30 in Game 5, Joel Embiid had 33 in Game 6, even Paul George had 23 in one of them and 16/9/7 in the other. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown aren’t shooting well right now, Philly has really shortened its bench, Boston seems like it’s trying to figure it out.